Hi everybody!! As usual, all of you Gardenweb folks have generously given of your time to help me out...THANK YOU!!! (and especially cawaps, who posted the mock-up, which helped tremendously to get a very good picture of what it is going to look like.. That "kompy" kitchen is so much like the one I have, its scary! That being said... I still like the slate and I think the thing that helped the most was hearing that the granite I pictured could well work and is not too busy. My house is actually very rustic and informal... its a contemporary design in the country that is very open airy floor plan (except for the kitchen) and currently has almost all off-white walls and darker wood trim. It has an almost "lodge" feel to it, so to answer blfenton, I guess we are indeed going with a rustic look. A modern, white kitchen would not work in this house. Even so... too much of a good thing is... too much, and I totally appreciate the concerns about all the stone and gray. To that end, I think I will indeed wait till everything but the backsplash is up to make the final call. I think the granite choice will stay about the same, and the variable will be the backsplash. beeps, I think my doubts started when a friend, who I trust with color, looked at everything and said it was "too heavy". The truth is, this is the look I have wanted.. every picture of a kitchen I have been drawn to is mission/shaker cherry cabinets with slate tile.. so thats what I was looking for. As long as the colors work, I think it will work in this house. Unfortunately I am extremely lacking in in judging what works... colors, clothes, etc, so second guessing is second nature..to doubt is normal ;) Thanks to you all so very much! I wish I could pay you back, and I am going to try to put my "two cents" in on this forum in the future whether I'm sure or not :)

Posted by budgeteer_s (My Page) on Wed, Dec 31, 08 at 18:18 Thanks for all your suggestions. I wanted so much to follow with ci_lantro's suggestion because then I'm done. I'll gladly let you snatch that paint brush out of my hand. ha ha. But at the same time if a little tiling will tie up the project, then I'm game. jodi_socal: I'm a little disappointed when you said fire and ice won't work. I just LOVE that F&I BS. But then agin, I think I know all along it's a little too much for my kitchen. Caryscott & petra: Thanks for the picture petra, it says a thousand words. Is spectralight glass tiles? Prices are pretty reasonable. What about that milk green color? will it work? maybe with some garnet pieces sparingly mixed in. I will take some pictures and post two HD Behr's paint card to aid in the discussion of color. Thanks again ALL! Correction: My tiles were Alfagres: Gema4x4: different from what caryscott posted: I loved what caryscott linked:

If your choice were only between to 2 you originally posted, I'd choose the one on the right--the cream one. From the photos it looks like it works very well with your quartzite. The gray one is "off" just enough not to look pleasing. However, as many have noted, either one is more difficult to clean than a smooth surface. What sort of cook are you--very neat or more devil-may-care? If you are very neat and do not splash much when you cook, then you may get away with the split-faced marble, but if you are a more exuberant cook, you may find it a challenge to clean. The mother of pearl is very formal and quite busy, so it's going to compete with the counter tops as well. Personally, I would use a smooth crackle tile in a tan/beige tone to work with your quartzite. Simple is always good.

OH BOY. I'm sorry I know you must be unraveled, but realistically it looks more like the counters dont go with your kitchen as they are brown tones and everything else looks black white and gray. Why did you leave the granite backsplash up? that would help minimize it a bit I think.. We need to see the whole room.